Friday, September 11, 2009

9-11

I am remembering where I was when the planes crashed into the towers and the world came crashing down. I was at home in our house in Waxahachie. I was on aim with my friend Cassie who lives in Brooklyn, NY…and she told me to turn on CNN….and the world went crazy.

I saw the second plane hit the tower there live on TV. I didn’t understand it, it looked like a movie, it was so surreal.

I remember how quiet the sky was for days because no planes flew anywhere. We always had planes going over head because we were south of Dallas.

I was glued to CNN for days and nothing got done…..until I finally told myself to turn it OFF, that life had to go on, and there wasn’t anything I could do about the pain and suffering of other people. I couldn’t let myself get swallowed up in their grief. I couldn’t lie down and die with them.

I can’t believe it’s been 8 years. I was in NYC a couple months ago, and I walked around where the towers were. There is some construction going on there now. But it’s still a big huge hole in the ground, and it is amazing to me that more damage wasn’t done to the buildings and areas surrounding where the towers stood.

14 comments:

I was here at home with Emily and Brian was at school in kindergarten. I had the TV off that morning and turned it on around 10 and they were showing the towers collapsing. I couldn't believe it was really happening so I called a neighbor. We watched for days too, not believing that it had really happened. And like you, at some point we just had to turn it off and get back to our lives. Such a terrible waste of lives.

Never to forget. We have an in-law in the buildings that collapsed, her tales of horror are deafening. Another in-law was in the air, his plane was landed within seconds in the middle of the USA. We had a friend that was sitting at a desk where the Pentagon was hit directly, who was severely burned & seen on TV running out of that hole ... God bless them all. Have a lovely weekend. TTFN ~ Marydon

It's touching how so many of us thought and felt the same things without knowing that others felt the same. I was home sick from work that day, here in England, and I came downstairs just before 2 p.m. (9 a.m. Eastern time). I switched on the TV and saw the second plane hit the second tower, and like you, I thought I was watching a special effect from the movies. I couldn't make sense of what I was seeing. Then my husband called home to see if I knew. I couldn't stop watching the news, either, and crying, and wishing I had other Americans to talk to about it. Before 9/11, I thought Oklahoma City was the worst thing that could ever, ever happen to us. God Bless.

Yes, today we pray for the survivors and all the relatives and friends. Today reminds me to thank God for His Blessings on my family. He brought my husband home safely for over 20 years. He is retired now but was a paid firefighter in NY. Say a prayer for all the Police and Firefighters who along with our armed services put their lives on the line every day to protect us all.

Living here in NY on 9-11 was pretty scary too. Plus I had two great nieces( in daycare) and their parents at the Pentagon working that day.We lost neighbors, people who took the train to NYC everyday......never came home that day.It was terrifying for my children, one in university, where her friends families all lived in and around NYC but could not call them to find out if they were okay. My son was working in Detroit where his Canadian coworkers could not go home because the borders were closed.My friend was in the air on a business trip, all planes had to land leaving her stranded in the middle of the country with not a rental car to be found, pure fear in her heart for herself and her family back in NY.We in NY had no phone service that day. We could only watch in horror on TV and not reach out to our loved ones.I still think we need to make 9-11 a national day of mourning....it sure feels that way to me today.

I live on the west coast, and was still in bed, as I didn't work until noon that day. I woke up to a world that had totally changed. We live very close to an air force base, and having no planes in the air for a week was very, very strange. I remember the first time I saw a plane flying again I felt such a surge of pride in my country! My husband was on one of the first commercial flights back in the air, and I was so nervous the whole time he was flying.

I was reading news online that morning and it mentioned a small plane had hit a building in New York, so I turned on the TV and in a few minutes saw live the 2nd plane hit the tower. It certainly was unreal that day and still seems that way somewhat, but unfortunately it was terribly real for all the people injured and killed on that day. We should never forget them.

I agree that this should become a national day of mourning. We lived in NJ in a town where several were lost that day. I was watching the TODAY show on TV and they mentioned the report of the first plane crashing into the Towers...and then we all SAW the second plane hit. That was when we knew it was a planned act of terrorism and that hatred toward our country ran deep and was going to change our lives forever. Will we ever see world peace? I hope and pray we do, but after 9-11, I grew very doubtful and am still not too hopeful today, I'm sad to say.

I'm on the other side of the world in Australia,we had just arrived home from picking up our daughter from a school dance. We walked in and put on the late night news only to see the second plane crash into the tower, as you said it was so surreal

I know where I was too. At work, in my home town, 12 miles west of Manhattan, with a view of midtown from my office window. It was very surreal. The view from the window showed a perfect fall day while the TV in the next room showed the distruction.

My daughter's friend escaped from the 73rd floor of Tower 1. My employer's son and DIL were living in Manhattan and working in the financial district and she was distraught until they were able to call her. The schools in all the towns around stayed open into the night holding children whose parents were MIA. There were vigils at all the churches. Then the memorial services started.